Br-oranges and Bro-ranchers
by Nenalata
Summary: It was bromancery in its purest form: two guys liked to eat a lot of food and not talk about feelings very much. They were not the manliest of men, nor the best of friends. But they got along perfectly well, and had they ever stopped to think about their relationship, they would agree that that was enough. A collection of short fics about the bromance between Adrien and Chase.
1. Spring 23rd

Chase was prickly, to put it lightly. Other than his first interaction by the church, Adrien had had little success in holding a conversation with the surly man, not for lack of trying.

Which led Adrien to ponder the reasons for his being outside Chase's door today. Normally, the young rancher had little interest in pursuing a friendship with someone who clearly wanted nothing of the sort. And it wasn't like Chase was so terribly interesting in his mysterious aura; Adrien had never understood those teenage girls who swooned after boys who wanted nothing to do with them.

No, the answer was most likely related to food. Or lack of food. Adrien was a terrible cook, as he'd discovered after burning what were _supposed _to be sautéed turnips in his brand-new, thankfully-not-ruined frying pan. How was he supposed to know that you had to put olive oil down first or whatever? Cooking was a confusing science, and Chase seemed to be a pretty knowledgeable scientist in that regard.

The one thing Adrien knew how to do where food was concerned was to buy it, and while this method was what had been keeping his belly full for the past season, it was slowly making his wallet less so. In order to remedy this unprofitable situation, Adrien had, well, spent a little more money, done a little research, and now was, as previously mentioned, waiting outside Chase's door, with a smile on his face and a birthday gift of marmalade in his hand. Hopefully the young chef would be willing to give him a few cooking lessons or tips with this show of good will.

He knocked.

No answer.

Adrien checked his beat-up watch. Nine o'clock in the morning. It seemed to be taboo for anyone on this island to wake up past eight, so he knew Chase had to be inside.

He knocked again, and after a few moments, the door opened a crack to reveal one glaring violet eye.

"Oh. It's you," an unseen mouth said. "What is it?"

Adrien fought to keep the grin on his face. "Oh, I was just dropping by—"

"Don't be overly friendly just because we exchanged pleasantries," Chase snapped, his eye deepening its glare.

"If you'd let me finish, I was going to say I was just dropping by to give you a birthday present," and here Adrien held up the modest jar.

The eye widened. The door opened all the way soon after, revealing a decidedly _not _grumpy Chase.

"I suppose a little friendliness doesn't hurt," he grumbled. "Come on in."

Adrien left Chase's house several hours later, his belly full of grilled-cheese-and-marmalade sandwich and his mind full of information on how to make said dish. It was fairly simple—spread jam, butter bread and pan, turn bread over on frying pan—and while he wasn't sure he'd have all the ingredients all the time, it was a good place to start. Chase had promised more cooking lessons in the future—Maya was proving hopeless, to no one's surprise, and Adrien had proven—slightly more surprisingly—a fast learner.

It was the beginning of a long and food-filled friendship.


	2. Summer 7th

It was a mixture of pride and curiosity that drove Adrien to Fugue Meadow that late summer afternoon, and he tried not to look too out of place amidst the mingling crowd of older couples. Sure, Phoebe was milling around looking just as awkward as he was, but "awkward" seemed to be Phoebe's constant state of being, so her disorientation didn't help ease his embarrassment. He sidestepped Perry as politely as he could, sensing a sermon coming on, and made his way down the slope to the river. Thankfully, Chase was lounging on the shore, looking as though he was trying very hard to be ignored and not approached.

Adrien approached.

"Hey, Chase!" he said, forcing some small amount of cheer to be imbued in his voice. "Fancy seeing you here."

A small smile flitted across Chase's face as he turned his head, which was not a reaction Adrien had expected. "Hey. Didn't think you'd be interested in seeing the fireflies."

"Can I sit?" A tiny nod from Chase, and Adrien sat. "Yeah, well…truth be told, I wasn't, but now it's a matter of pride. I asked Luna if she wanted to go with me, but she said she never comes to this festival. That's weird because Candace and Shelly do, but maybe that's why…? I don't know."

"She probably didn't want to go on a date with you, Adrien," Chase rolled his eyes. "Sorry to break it to you."

Adrien groaned and flopped back on the sand, instantly regretting his decision as particles worked their way under his clothes. "I'd tell you to shut up, only it's probably true. I'm a nice guy, right? Why wouldn't she want to go on a date with me?"

"Because nice guys are usually ugly?"

"Now _that_ was harsh, and completely untrue. I see you're here by yourself, and you're the biggest asshole I know. Did Maya say no to your supposed good looks of douchebaggery?"

The other man made an inhuman noise of disgust in the back of his throat. "I…just…ugh. No. No, I turned _Maya _down, and I have no idea why you think _I _would have asked _her_. That's more of an insult than all your uncreative swearing."

"Yeah? Then why are you here?"

Chase smirked. "Because I knew Luna'd turn you down and that you'd be here moping alone. What type of friend would I be if I didn't show up in your time of need?"

"I totally am not _mop_—"

They were shushed by several surrounding people. Several surrounding people who all had lanterns. Whoops. Seemed like the festival had started.

Adrien felt kind of lame putting down his lantern next to Chase's at first, but his joke about their date together died in his throat when he saw the serious expression on the redhead's face. It occurred to Adrien the Ever Slow that maybe Chase had shown up to honor his own ancestors, or someone dear to him who had died.

But bros did not question their bros, and Chase was undoubtedly his bro. He deserved some privacy; not some deep conversation about _feelings_.

So instead, once the festival ended, Chase invited Adrien over and cut him a slice of shortcake, which, while embarrassing enough that they agreed to never share what they had eaten for their midnight snack with anyone, was not as embarrassing as prying about each other's past, and Adrien considered it a night well spent. He left the meadow feeling reinvigorated about his chances with the sassiest seamstress he knew, a recipe for blueberry pie newly tucked into his rucksack.


	3. Summer 8th

Rain was a good omen in the farming world. It meant crops would get enough water. It meant more individual time with caring for animals. It meant other good things that Adrien didn't care about, because today was his birthday, and damn it, he didn't want it to rain on his birthday!

For the first time since starting up his ranch, Adrien glared at the thunderheads through the window. Really, there was no reason for his being this upset. Rain was, as previously mentioned, quite a good thing indeed. Furthermore, it wasn't as though as he'd been planning some grand party to celebrate his twenty-third birthday, and even if he had, only a handful of people would have shown up—he was still feeling very much the new kid on the block. Maybe Jin would have, but judging by the birthday card he'd received in the mail (Dear Adrien, Happy birthday and try not to work too hard; you don't want your asthma flaring up. Sincerely, Jin) he figured the doctor only knew his birthday because he had access to Adrien's medical forms. Not very celebratory.

Anyway, yeah, so he was sulking without much cause. It wasn't like anyone in the town had a _reason_ to know his birthday. Adrien wasn't the type to tell everyone that his birthday was coming up. If someone asked, "Hey! When's your birthday?" then he'd tell them, but one would be surprised by how infrequently such a conversation topic arose.

"Well, whatever," Adrien muttered, stepping away from the window. Well, whatever indeed. He didn't like being in such a foul mood, and trying out the recipe for blueberry pie Chase had given him seemed like a pretty good remedy. He rifled through his rucksack until he found the slightly crumpled piece of paper. Pie crust, egg, blueberry. Seemed simple enough, and he knew where he could get all the ingredients. He could probably just buy a pie crust from the inn, he had some blueberries stored from Spring, and Horn Ranch would almost certainly have eggs on hand. Easy stuff. He didn't really relish the thought of traipsing all over creation in the rain, but such was life. Winning Luna's heart demanded such sacrifices.

He was halfway across Fugue Meadow when he realized the faint sound in the distance was actually his name being called. Several times, actually. He turned, squinting through the rain, until he could make out red hair and a surly expression under a blue umbrella.

"Chase? What are you doing out in this?"

"I was looking for you, actually. Now that I've found you, what are _you_ doing?"

Adrien blinked water droplets out of his eyes. "I was getting eggs."

"Eggs."

"Yeah."

"Without an umbrella."

Adrien flexed his right hand, and to his surprise, no umbrella handle made itself known. Whoops. "I suppose so. I totally meant to grab one, I swear."

Chase rolled his eyes, a gesture that Adrien was quickly becoming used to. "What was so important about eggs that you _forgot_ to carry an umbrella when it's clearly pouring rain?"

"Shut up?" Adrien said, starting to grin before a shiver cut him off. "Okay, I was going to bake that pie recipe. I was just getting groceries from around town."

Chase was shaking his head before his bro was even finished speaking. "Before I remind you that you _live on a farm, for the sake of the Goddess_,_ and thus shouldn't need to get groceries_—"

"I think you just did, actually."

"Before I do that," he repeated loudly, "we are going to your house, because that's why I was looking for you in the first place. Also, you need to, I don't know, not be freezing and catch a cold. Let's go."

"But I—"

"Not up for debate."

"—the groceries—"

"I'm going to punch you in the gut very soon if you don't shut up."

Adrien shut up, and they made the walk together to the farm, Chase refusing to let Adrien under his umbrella because "I'm not your freaking girlfriend, Adrien; you should have brought one." Clearly, Chase was trying to teach the birthday boy a lesson, and while said birthday boy would have liked to complain that the lesson had been _learned_ and now he was _cold, _any time he tried to open his mouth, Chase would shoot him a poisonous glare.

It was with gratitude that Adrien stepped into his modest farmhouse, and it was with practice born of use that he stepped around the puddle of water that had accumulated by the door thanks to the leaky roof. Adrien was accustomed to it by now, but this was the first time Chase had ever been in his home, and so it was with a rather colorful vocabulary with which the chef greeted said puddle.

"Maybe you shouldn't wear sandals when it's raining," Adrien said cheerfully.

Another glare as Chase took off his sandal and shook it off. "Maybe you should shut up," he compromised.

Adrien undressed, wringing out his clothes in a bucket and selecting an outfit identical to the previous one. When he turned around, fully dressed once more, he frowned at the sight on the table. He clearly did not remember a box being there before.

"Open it," Chase said. "It's your birthday, right?"

Adrien blinked, a memory slowly pooling in his mind's eye. Adrien, giving Chase a jar of marmalade for _his_ birthday. Chase, reluctantly offering to return the favor. Adrien, laughing and saying he had plenty of time, that his birthday wasn't until the eighth day of Summer.

"I can't believe you remembered," he said, stunned. Chase waved him off.

"Neither can I. Just open it."

Inside the box was a gently used cutting board and rolling pin. A nice gift, and expected from a chef, to be sure, but…

"What would I use 'em for?"

Chase face-palmed. Wait, what? Did he _actually _just put his palm to his—oh, wait, he was talking. What was he saying? "—because if you're going to make a pie crust for your beloved Luna, you probably should have one of these."

A laugh burst out of him before he could stop it. "Chase, I'm just going to go to the inn and pick one up. I think making a pie crust is beyond me."

A long-suffering sigh. What an ass. "You live on a farm, Adrien. It is so easy to make a pie crust, especially when you have fresh ingredients, that it would actually cost less to make it yourself."

"But money!" Adrien argued, clutching the cutting board regardless. "But selling!"

"But _buying_," Chase snapped back. "If you're looking to be frugal, this is the way to go. Just follow my directions and you'll have a pie to give to her by the end of the day."

It took some coaxing—well, yelling—to get Adrien to retrieve his duck egg from the shipping bin, but it happened eventually, and though Chase was muttering not very complimentary things under his breath while Adrien rolled dough, the pie crust was coming along pretty well. The atmosphere in the room was this side of antagonistic, but Adrien had grown used to that, hanging around with Chase. Unhealthy? Maybe. But things always worked out eventually, usually in the form of food.

"There. It's done cooking. See how easy that was?"

Adrien peered suspiciously at the fork Chase had just stabbed into the pie. "You sure? I saw this thing when it was still raw eggs and bacteria."

"See the fork? When it comes out clean like this, it's done. Also, the bubbling filling shows—okay, I see you've stopped listening."

"Huh? No, I totally was."

Chase laughed tiredly, which usually was what happened when Adrien couldn't annoy him any more than he already had. "I'm going home. I can't believe I wasted my afternoon teaching how to bake a simple pie, but whatever. Go get her, or something."

Adrien grinned. "Thanks, Chase. I mean it. I'm sure she'll love it. Is it okay if I told her I made it all by myself?"

"Sure, whatever." And with that, Chase and his umbrella were gone. Adrien placed the pie in a circular piece of plastic, covered it, grabbed his own umbrella, and was out the door almost immediately after.

The walk to Harmonica Town was slightly more pleasant now that he wasn't being rained on, and the promise of Luna, her eyes shining with gratitude like the girls on television did, kept his spirits high all the way to Sonata Tailors. He grabbed the knob and pushed—

The door was locked.

"Crap!" What day was it? Yesterday had been Saturday, so today had to be—yep, they were closed. And since it was raining out, Luna would undoubtedly be spending the day at home.

"Luna!" he called, knocking on the door. The rain was too loud; he doubted she could hear him. He sighed and stared down at his forlorn pie. "Is it too much to ask," he asked it, "for a guy to want to spend his birthday with the object of his affections?"

Apparently so.

The next door he opened was decidedly _un_locked, but the man in the room beyond didn't seem to be especially pleased to see him. "Oh, for the love of the Goddess," Chase groaned, putting down his flute. "What is it now?"

"Don't kick me while I'm down," Adrien said, feeling an irrational rush of hurt well up in him. "Sonata Tailors is closed, and Luna unattainable."

"Oh." Chase cleared his throat. "Um, well, I'm sorry to hear that, actually. She wouldn't even come to see you on your birthday?"

"She doesn't know," Adrien said moodily, plopping himself down at the kitchen table uninvited. "No one but you and Jin do. I'm alone on my birthday."

There was a strangely awkward pause. "Well, I'm here," Chase said, looking bemused. "I can make you a cocktail if you want."

Adrien didn't understand Chase's sudden niceness, but he _did _understand booze. "That sounds great, yeah."

They drank wheat cocktails until the sun started to set, Adrien's pie left in Chase's fridge.

"To brodom," Adrien tried, lifting his glass in a toast. "Who needs women, anyway?"

"I'm not your bro," Chase grumbled, but he ching-chinged anyway. "Happy birthday."


	4. Summer 14th

First, a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice. Being friends ("bros," Adrien would call it) with a farmer had its benefits—he had grown accustomed to gifts of oranges almost daily. Newly energized after a few citrus-y slurps, he set the glass down in the sink before retrieving the polished wooden case from its special shelf.

He carefully removed the lid, and there it was. Simple and wooden, just like the box it called home, it did a fine enough job. More importantly, it had been handcrafted by loving hands and intentions—which he was _not _going to think about right now.

A few scales, then, to warm up.

His fingers flitted across the instrument with a practiced skill as he started with the simple stuff: C major, A minor. Then, as he grew bolder, the more complicated ones: Gb major, A# minor, a few blues scales thrown in to spice it up.

He allowed himself to smile once he was finished. He'd never played so well—must be a good day for the flute, or perhaps his dexterity. But now came the fun part. He took an expert breath and began.

Notes flew from the flute foot with an ease he wasn't expecting. He faltered for a moment in his surprise, but his fingers seemed to have a mind of their own; he played on, his eyes starting to close as the music enveloped him.

He was a one-man wind ensemble, a force of nature. Goddess, he'd _never _sounded this good before. Images began to swirl in his mind accompanying the melody, and he could feel his spine tingling with the emotions the instrument, the piece pulled out of him.

He poured himself into the song. As complicated rhythms and tricky fingerings flew by without issue, he tried to reign in his excitement. This piece, memorized though it was, had been causing him no small amount of grief the past few weeks—but no, now was not the time to focus on such things. Now was the time to enjoy the _rapturous _beauty he was creating—

"Hey, Chase! Boy, you sure are being noisy. I could hear you halfway across the meadow!"

-and the music stuttered to a halt.

Perhaps Adrien would never fully grasp the reason why a livid Chase ran him out of the house with a rolling pin in hand, but then again, he wouldn't have been Adrien if he had. As the fleeing farmer's eyes widened in fear, creative expletives falling in a torrent from Chase's lips, a phantom melody whistled through the midsummer breeze, a melody that only Chase seemed to hear.

Chase swore some more and returned home, exhausted, but sure to lock the door behind him this time.


	5. Summer 26th

"Adrien."

"Go away, Chase."

"_Adrien_."

"I'm not listening to you."

"Adrien, you look ridiculous."

"Well, now you said it. You have no concept of 'mental filter,' do you?"

They had stopped walking sometime during the brief conversation, and now their eyes met each other, glare for glare.

"We're in the middle of town. I am not having this conversation with you," Adrien hissed, "where someone can hear us."

Chase snorted in a very ungentlemanly fashion. "You mean someone like _Luna_?"

"Shut up, I said!" Adrien bit out, finally marching past his _asshole friend _who _didn't understand that _true love involved _sacrifices_.

To his annoyance, Chase followed. Well, he supposed that was to be expected; they were both headed the same place. "I just wanted to check with you," the jerk said with that lilt in his voice he got when he was being _superior _and _smug _and—"that you know it's still Summer, right? A little early to be wearing," he paused, dramatically staring at Adrien's ears, "_those_."

Would Adrien admit he was dying a little of heat exhaustion? "No! No, it's not. It's the _end_ of Summer. It's starting to get cold. They're useful."

"You're head over heels for a girl you're not even dating," Chase argued as they entered the bar, not quite together. Adrien didn't hold the door for him, a gesture Chase accepted with a supercilious little sneer. "That's just pathetic. At least ask her out before you start writing sonnets."

"Ooh, ask _who _out?" Selena said excitedly as she sashayed their way. "Adrien, you're not confessing your love for me already, are—what is _that?_" A look, one a mixture of disgust and curiosity, crossed her face as she pointed at Adrien's face.

"Pointing is rude, Selena," Adrien said archly, or _tried_ to say, because Chase cut him off with,

"They're mufflers. In the summer."

Selena sniffed. "I have no idea what mufflers are, but I do know that green is not your color, Adrien."

Irritation began to simmer, low and hot, in Adrien's stomach. "You wear mufflers when it's cold. It's almost Fall. So I'm wearing mufflers."

Selena stared at him. She looked like she had something more unkind to say than "Who gave you _mufflers_ in the _summer_?" but that was what came out of her lips, and so Adrien had no choice but to accept it.

"Luna, okay? Luna gave me them. Now will everyone shut up about my stupid mufflers?"

Silence among the group reigned. Naturally, Chase was its usurper.

"He's hoping she'll come by the bar tonight so she can see him wearing it," he said with a chuckle. "Adrien's just too cute for words."

Adrien responded with a thoughtfully-worded suggestion as to where Chase could shove his comment, which was unfortunately received with raucous laughter from both his tormenters. Swearing again, he stormed out of the bar with naught but a friendly finger gesture. Maybe they were right, that it _was_ stupid, but he'd rather have a dramatic exit, no Luna, than stay and be ridiculed with a promise of Luna.

Someone very short and very _Luna_ crashed into him. "Watch where you're—oh!" she said once she saw it was him, the peevish expression gone from her face. "Nice to…see you…"

The trailing off was not a good sign. Adrien felt heat rise to his face.

"You're wearing…" she paused, tried again. "You're wearing my—the mufflers? In the summer?"

"Yeah," he replied with a sheepish grin, not even bothering to hide his blush. "I wanted to show you how much I liked them."

Another pause. Another frightening, cruel pause.

Then he saw it. The corners of her pink lips tilting up ever so slightly, then not-so-slightly, and then she was grinning at him full force, her eyes crinkling up and a blush of her own dusting her cheeks. "Oh! Well, erm, I'm glad you like them so much," she chirped, clasping her hands together. "But you really shouldn't wear them in this heat, yanno? You might collapse! I really meant them for when the Fall comes, sorry."

"No problem," he said, finally removing the damn things. "No problem. Yeah."

They stood there in the street, smiling stupidly at each other.

"Well, I should probably—" he finally began.

"Yeah, I gotta—" she interrupted him.

Another pause. A less intimidating one.

"Well, I'll see you around, Luna," he said with another goofy grin. "I'm heading home."

"Yeah, you do that," she said, returning the smile. "Have a nice night."

Chase and Selena could rot for all he cared, Adrien realized as he trotted on home. They may have had the pleasure of making fun of them, but neither of them would fall asleep that night with the memory of such a sweet smile still playing in their heads.

_AN: Gah, sorry! I meant to lots of updates, but then I had to catch up on my AP file, ha ha. So here's something cute to make up for it. Thanks for reading, everyone!_


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